Six Maricopans complete MPD victim assistance training

Six Maricopa volunteers graduated from the MPD Victim Assistance Training Program on July 3.

These citizens, Joni Ashton, Jim DeVenezia, Beverly Freitag, Rod McIntire, Zachary Montalvo and Julie Wilder, successfully completed 40 hours of intense classroom sessions.

Victim Assistance Providers respond to Maricopa citizens on what could possibly be the worst day of their lives: being the victim of a violent crime, i.e. sexual assault, domestic violence, robbery and family victims of murder and accidental or natural death.

The Victim Assistance Provider’s immediate first response to a crime victim is a key factor in whether or not a victim accesses needed services and assistance such as crisis intervention, counseling, financial compensation, information, referrals to community programs and help navigating the justice process.

The VAP first responder informs victims of their guaranteed rights under Arizona’s Constitution, how to exercise those rights and what recourse they have if their rights are violated.

Maricopa now has 14 VAP Responders. Each volunteer committed to a minimum of 16 hours a month for a period of one year and attendance at monthly training meetings. Each graduate completed a background check and sat before and was approved by a review board. The MPD is extremely proud of the outstanding volunteers it has brought together for Victim Assistance Response.

Submitted Photo

Back row (left to rt.) Beverly Freitag, VAP Coordinator Jerry Good, Rod McIntire, Police Chief Kirk Fitch. Front row (left to rt.) Zachary Montalvo, Joni Ashton, Jim DeVenezia, Julie Wilder.